Riding My Way Back is a short documentary that chronicles one soldier’s journey back from the brink of suicide. In 2010, Staff Sergeant Aaron Heliker returned from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in addition to third-degree burns and nerve damage from a roadside bomb. At his most desperate and isolated, on 42 medications and suicidal, Aaron is introduced to the unlikeliest of saviors: a horse named Fred. Through caring for Fred and building mutual trust, Aaron begins the difficult process of reconnecting to the world around him and healing the terrible, invisible wounds of war that had nearly defeated him.

It is a film that exquisitely shows the destructive effect war can have on those who take part in it. This film contains extremely powerful imagery that brings the story right into your heart, where you not only see, but also feel the connection forming between the ‘man in pain’ and his powerful, mystical horse therapist. Watch the trailer.

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Windrush Farm

Each year, Windrush provides an array of educational services and therapeutic activities to more than 2,150 children and adults – and their families. Founded in 1964, Windrush Farm was one of the first therapeutic equitation centers in the United States.